Melanie Hirsch did the math and realized that the “Jeopardy!” Second Chance Tournament episode she was scheduled to film on November 4 was going to air the week of Christmas. So the Silver Spring resident took a unique approach to studying for the competition.

Other “Jeopardy!” contestants might spend the days leading up to filming by cramming geographical trivia or obscure historical facts; Hirsch listened to Christmas music and studied Christmas movies.

That bet paid off. She headed into Final Jeopardy in Wednesday’s episode tied for the lead with Andrew Wang, a medical student from Winnetka, Illinois. The Final Jeopardy question? “In an early draft, this title line was followed by ‘it may be your last,’ but Judy Garland refused to sing it that way.” (Answer: What is ”Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.“) Hirsch got it right; her competitor didn’t.

The victory was officially hers, as was the $40,800 prize money she accumulated.

“I honestly don’t know if I would have gotten my answer correct had I not done that preparation,” she told The Banner. “It was very gratifying to be able to pull that one out. ... You never have any idea what you’re going to get, and so you have to just be prepared for absolutely anything.”

Hirsch is part of a group of 27 former “Jeopardy!” contestants who previously competed and lost, but showed enough promise to warrant an invite back for the show’s tournament season this year.

She first competed in an episode that aired in March, which garnered some headlines over a “nail-biting” game in which she was narrowly in the lead heading into Final Jeopardy!, but lost out to a 4-day champion after wagering too much on an answer that all three contestants got wrong.

Still, Hirsch added, “the whole thing was such a remarkable experience. All of this has been such a delightful surprise that I’m just grateful for every bit of it.”

An attorney at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) in Washington, D.C., one of Hirsch’s colleagues had competed on the show and had encouraged her last year to take the official online test, which serves as a screening-round audition for the show. Less than a year after she took the test, her first episode aired.

Hirsch loves the vibrant community that comes with living in Silver Spring. But as a government employee in the D.C.-area, living in the DMV has brought its own bout of anxieties this year, including worries about job security in the current political climate.

She was informed the day of her first episode taping in February that her office, which serves as a government watchdog agency, had received orders from the Trump administration to shut down operations. (The decision has since been reversed, though Hirsch says there’s still a lingering fear of a more permanent closure next year).

“I checked my work email in the morning before I went to tape, and it basically said, ‘Everybody stop working. You’re not allowed to work anymore. No work until further notice,’ ” she recalled. “And then I had to turn off my phone. I didn’t know if I was going to have a job at the end of that day.”

Amid that uncertainty, Hirsch said “Jeopardy!” has remained a bright spot for her and those close to her through a stressful year.

A group of family, friends and colleagues joined her Wednesday night for a private viewing party at McGinty’s Public House, an Irish pub in Silver Spring. Everyone is “so delighted to have something to celebrate,” she said. Viewers at home can catch Hirsch compete again on Thursday as part of the Second Chance Tournament’s two-part final, where she’ll play for the chance to make it to the Champions Wildcard Tournament, which airs Jan. 5.

“To be able to spend these last 10 months thinking about, like, ‘What are all the world capitals? Can I recite all the presidents in order? What are all the Oscar-winning movies?’ That has been a very good coping mechanism,” Hirsch said. “Just to try to focus on things that are known and true and certain.”